Author: S K

BYOBottle Celebrates Plastic Free July!

Posted on by S K
BYOBottle Partners: Eden Sessions, Plastic Free July, Jack Johnson with Hollie Cook, 
Algalita Marine Research & Education, Cali Vibes Festival, Plastic Pollution Coalition

Greetings BYOBottle Partners!

BYOBottle partners celebrate Plastic Free July each year, shining the spotlight on success stories and music industry efforts to turn the tide on plastic pollution. From venues & festivals, to artists, fans and industry partners, we are taking collective action to promote innovation and reuse. You can take the Plastic Free July Challenge, find an event near you, or explore the Changemakers Toolkit. As a BYOBottle partner, we encourage you to spread the word about Plastic Free July and share how you are taking action to reduce plastic waste, whether at a show or in your daily life. Please enjoy these partner updates and BYBottle highlights!

➤ BYOBottle – Highlights:

  • BYOBottle artists, The Lumineers and their fans avoided 52,000+ single-use plastic water bottles on tour with help from greening partner REVERB. Water refill stations were provided at shows, reusable bottles & mugs were given to band and crew, and fans could donate for reusable bottles. Advance calls with promoters led to 92% of venues allowing fans to bring reusable bottles.
  • BYOBottle founding artist Jack Johnson recently took the BYOBottle message on tour in the UK and Europe, incorporating plastic waste reduction into his EnviroRider and encouraging venues and festivals to join the BYOBottle campaign. Jack’s band & crew created a World Refill Day reel backstage to promote BYOBottle and reusables on tour.

➤ BYOBottle Suggested Post: 

Sample Social Media Post:  Share a photo showing how you reduce plastic waste.

As a @BYOBottle Partner, we are rocking reusables in @PlasticFreeJuly to support the music industry effort to turn the tide on plastic pollution. #BYOBottle  #PlasticFreeJuly


*Invite BYOBottle as a collaborator on your post! 

Please Tag BYOBottle – FB: @byobottlecampaign / Insta: @BYOBottle / Twitter: @BYO_Bottle 

➤ BYOBottle Features: 

💧Featured Action: Support a Global Plastics Treaty

💧Featured Venue Sustainability: Eden Project/Eden Sessions

💧Featured Resource: Future Festival Tools

💧Featured Event: Plastic Free July

💧Featured Tour Impact Report: The Lumineers: Brightside World Tour

💧Featured Guide: Music Sustainability Association Resource Guide

National Independent Venue Association Partners With r.Cup to Reduce Garbage at Concerts

Posted on by S K

Anyone who’s been to a concert in the past couple of decades knows the sound: the crunch of dozens or hundreds of plastic cups littering the venue floor at the end of the show. How much less waste would there be if those cups — which number in the millions every year — could be washed and reused instead of dumped in a landfill?

In an early major step in the right direction, the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) has announced a partnership with r.Cup, a sustainable platform that provides reusable cups in an effort to replace single-use plastic cup use. NIVA members in r.Cup operating cities can reduce their environmental footprint with r.Cup’s reusable cup system while raising funds for the National Independent Venue Foundation.

NIVA members in Denver, Seattle, and soon Los Angeles and Milwaukee have the opportunity to use r.Cup’s services rather than using disposables in their venues to help protect the environment with lower greenhouse emissions. Through this partnership, r.Cup will also donate $.01 to NIVF for every cup utilized by a NIVA member.

Live Nation announced a similar program at its venues last September via its partnership with Turn Systems. 

“NIVA is uniquely positioned to encourage our members to adopt sustainable practices, in particular to reduce single-use plastics through this innovative program,” said r.Cup COO Cody Cowan. “Not only does this program align with our green initiatives, it helps raise funds for our organization so we can continue our work supporting independent music and comedy venues in communities across America.”

According to the announcement, R.Cup is a full-service reuse system that provides a variety of cups and containers, collection bins, delivery and pick-up logistics, sanitizing services, program training and more. After every event, r.Cup collects, washes, sanitizes, inspects and then repackages cups to be used again. R.Cup is the first national reusable platform of its kind and has diverted millions of single-use cups and foodware from landfills, eliminating two million tons of C02 emissions in over 90 cities, 30 states, and 12 countries. In North America alone, the live event industry contributes over 4 billion single-use and disposable cups each year filling landfills. 

While organizations such as Reverb and artists like Dave Matthews and Billie Eilish have made major strides toward a greener live-music environment in recent years, there’s little question that venues and festivals in Europe are far ahead of the U.S. in such efforts. Variety spoke with the organizers of Norway’s remarkably forward-looking Oya festival last year about their methods, and how they can be adopted by venues and festivals everywhere — see the article here.

[Read Full Article Here]

Live Nation to Introduce Reusable Cups at Venues and Festivals, a Major Step Toward ‘Zero-Waste Concerts’

Posted on by S K

Anyone who’s been to a concert knows the sound: The crunch of hundreds of plastic cups underfoot, which are used once and thrown away, creating countless acres of garbage.

Live Nation Entertainment has made a move to reduce that waste at its venues and festival via a strategic investment in Turn Systems, which operates a leading reusable-cup system that also includes collection bins and mobile washing systems. According to the announcement, a single reusable Turn cup has the potential to displace up to 100 single-use cups and can break even on its environmental impact in as few as three uses. (For more on Turn Systems, see the company’s website.)

As the primary option for beverages at participating Live Nation events, fans can easily use the return-bin system instead of a traditional trash or recycling bin. Similar systems have been successfully deployed at major European festivals for many years.

[Read Full Article]

BYOBottle Summer 2022 Highlights

Posted on by S K

BYOBottle Partners: All At Once Water Stations at Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion, TURN with Live Nation, 

Rob Machado Foundation at BeachLife Festival, Adalita, Bettercup at WOMADelaide, Steelys Drinkware

Greetings BYOBottle Partners!

Join millions of people around the world in reducing plastic waste this Plastic Free July! Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps people around the globe be part of the solution to plastic pollution. It’s a great time to consider how you can take plastic waste reduction to the next level and show your music community that you’ve made a commitment to ditch single-use and choose reusables this Plastic Free July!

Please enjoy these BYOBottle resources and highlights!

➤ BYOBottle – Highlights:

  • r.Cup is partnering with Roger Waters and other artists to provide reusable cups at shows this summer, as part of the artists’ commitment to green touring and eliminating single-use waste. Live Nation is launching the TURN reusable cup program at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville for all shows this summer, and continues to pursue single-use plastic free concessions.

  • Jack Johnson collaborated with Live Nation on his Meet the Moonlight Tour to offer a signature cocktail, served in a Steelys reusable pint cup. The tour also provides free water refill stations, promotes reusables, and encourages fans to join BYOBottle and take action in support of plastic free initiatives, through a Propeller campaign and at each show. The tour also teamed up with Klean Kanteen to gift custom reusable bottles to All At Once Non-Profits and local crew.
  • Save the date for Upstream’s 2nd Annual Reuse Awards, September 29th – The Reusies, a virtual awards show for reuse heroes innovating solutions to a world without waste. You can also explore a new sustainability database, launched by the Music Sustainability Association to serve as an aggregation of resources for the music industry. Green Music Australia just released Sound Country: A Green Artist Guide as a comprehensive resource to help musicians implement sustainable solutions across all aspects of their music career, including case studies and checklists to implement eco-friendly practices.
  • REVERB is working with artists including Billie Eilish, Harry Styles, and Dave Matthews Band to reduce single-use plastic backstage and encourage fans to RockNRefill with free water stations and reusable water bottles. BYOBottle Business Partner O’Land is launching a challenge to save 1 million plastic bottles this summer in Montreal, in the wake of the federal announcement of a ban on single-use plastics.

➤ BYOBottle Suggested Post: Plastic Free July

Sample Social Media Post:  I support #BYOBottle to help turn the tide on plastic pollution in the music industry.  This @PlasticFreeJuly Iʻm rocking my reusable water bottles to reduce plastic waste!   #PlasticFreeJuly 

Please Tag BYOBottle – FB: @byobottlecampaign / Insta: @BYOBottle / Twitter: @BYO_Bottle 

➤ BYOBottle Features: 

💧Featured Campaign: Plastic Free July

💧Featured Event: The Reusies – Reuse Awards 9.29.22

💧Featured Resource: Music Sustainability Association Database

💧Featured Fan Action Campaign: Propeller – Jack Johnson All At Once

💧Featured Video: Roadmap to Reuse

💧Featured Green Music Guide: Green Music Australia: Sound Country

Explore BYOBottle Fan Actions and Stay Connected by following and tagging BYOBottle on Facebook, instagram and twitter!

LIVE NATION ANNOUNCES GREEN NATION TOURING PROGRAM, GIVING ARTISTS TOOLS TO REDUCE THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF TOURS

Posted on by S K

Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s leading live entertainment company, today introduced the Green Nation Touring Program, which is developing industry-leading guidance and best practices to enhance the sustainability of concert tours. 

The Green Nation Touring Program will allow Live Nation to help artists adopt and scale sustainable touring practices that prioritize people and planet. There will be focus on driving impact across all areas of the tour, including:

  • PLANNING: green venue selection, maximize efficient routing, evaluate transportation options, and more
  • PRODUCTION: stage design to power requirements can also be measured and optimized
  • SOURCING: conscious and equitable sourcing options across merch, catering and other vendor supplies
  • COMMUNITY: enhancing engagement with every community that touches a tour from fans, to crew, to the local market and brand partners

Live Nation just completed a global sustainability study, in which 82% of live music goers said they strive to maintain an environmentally sustainable lifestyle. And a key element of the program will be providing concertgoers with more sustainable options while attending shows. 

“Live Nation has the opportunity and the responsibility to provide artists and fans with live music experiences that protect our planet,” said Michael Rapino, President and CEO, Live Nation Entertainment. “We’re inspired by artists who are continually pushing for greener options, and as we develop those best practices the Green Nation Touring Program will help make them standards in the industry so collectively we can all make the biggest impact possible.”

To help drive these efforts on a global scale, Live Nation has elevated Lucy August-Perna to Director, Global Sustainability. August-Perna has been with Live Nation since 2016 leading efforts to integrate sustainability measures like waste reduction, energy efficiency, and fan and employee engagement across all Live Nation owned and operated venues in the U.S. Prior to Live Nation she spent nearly a decade working with touring artists on environmental impact reduction strategies. 

To track and measure these efforts, Green Nation is establishing standardized impact measurement tools for worldwide operations, and created a venue survey to assess the sustainability of 3rd party venue options. Green Nation has also enlisted the UK based not-for-profit think tank and creative consultant Julie’s Bicycle to collaborate on new tools, resources, and a green tour certification scheme to help expedite adoption of these touring practices and catalyze industry action.

The touring program continues to expand on Live Nation’s Green Nation sustainability charter, which focuses on Climate Action and decarbonization of venue energy & transportation; Protection and regeneration of nature through responsible sourcing and consumption practices; as well as Community Engagement across artists, fans, employees, sponsors, vendors, and local communities. 

Live Nation is committed to evolving low-carbon and regenerative practices across its portfolio and recognizes the lasting impact the company can make by striving to enhance sustainability across the 40,000 shows and 100+ festivals it hosts over 40 countries around the world in a typical year. 

Read More

Reuse Wins at Events: A life-cycle analysis of reusable and single-use cups

Posted on by S K

Over the past decade, the sports, entertainment, and live events industry has searched for alternatives to single-use plastic in food concessions. As fans return to sporting arenas and concert-goers celebrate the return of music festivals, sustainability issues at events and venues are coming back into focus – specifically, the ever-present disposable plastic cup. 

Many attempts at solutions have been introduced, from bioplastic cups to reuse systems and now single-use aluminum. But there has been no clear scientific consensus as to which options have the greatest environmental impact and which options have the least – until now.  

Read More

DEAD & COMPANY IMPACT REPORT: 2021 TOUR

Posted on by S K

IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS

45,500+ ACTIONS TAKEN BY FANS AT SHOWS
SUPPORTING IMPORTANT SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

$1.5 MILLION+ RAISED
SUPPORTING DEAD FAMILY ORGANIZATIONS

CLIMATE POSITIVE TOUR
THIS TOUR ELIMINATED MORE THAN 5 TIMES THE EMISSIONS THAT IT CREATED INCLUDING FAN TRAVEL TO AND FROM SHOWS

$577,000+ TO SUPPORT GREENHOUSE GAS ELIMINATION
FUNDING GLOBAL PROJECTS

19,000+ SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BOTTLES ELIMINATED
AT SHOWS ON THE 2021 TOUR

Read more

BYOBottle Winter 2022 Highlights

Posted on by S K

BYOBottle Partners (from top left clockwise): Steelys Drinkware, festivalgoer with pint cup, Jack Johnson reusable station, r.Cup (photo Trey Karson), Tinpan Orange, water refill at BottleRock, fans at Outside Lands water station, REVERB #RockNRefill

Greetings BYOBottle Partners!

Thank you for your continued commitment to rock reusables in support of BYOBottle and the music industry effort to turn the tide on plastic pollution! The BYOBottle campaign continues to serve as a resource to share news and best practices promoting reusables and waste reduction at concerts and festivals. Enjoy these recent BYOBottle partner highlights!

➤ BYOBottle – Highlights:

• BYOBottle partners Outside Lands festival and Steelys Drinkware continue a collaborative effort to reduce single-use plastic waste. Outside Lands offers free water refill stations, promotes reusable water bottles and pint cups, and has one of the highest festival waste diversion rates in the country. BYOBottle festival BottleRock encourages festivalgoers to bring their own reusable water bottles, offers convenient water refill stations, and helped eliminate 182,000 single-use plastic water bottles in 2021!

• BYOBottle Non-Profit Partner Plastic Pollution Coalition has launched a “Flip the Script on Plastics” campaign to change the culture around single-use plastics portrayed in film, tv and media. We know that life imitates art, and by showing package-free, reusable and refillable systems in popular television shows and movies, we can influence culture and model alternatives to single-use disposables.

• BYOBottle business partner r.Cup is excited to announce its latest r.Cup Wash Hub facility in Denver, providing sustainable reusable cup and serveware services. AEG recently installed r.Cup’s reuse system at four venues in Denver – completely eliminating thousands of single-use and disposable cups each week. 

• BYOBottle artist Jack Johnson is promoting BYOBottle as part of his Summer 2022 Tour, working with promoters and venues in support of innovative plastic free campaigns. The REVERB #RockNRefill program helped BYOBottle artists Dave Matthews Band and Dead and Company to reduce plastic waste on tour. Check out the 2021 Impact Report showing how Dead and Company eliminated 19,000+ single-use plastic water bottles!

• Surfrider has developed a Bioplastics Toolkit to provide background on why bioplastics are problematic and provide guidance on how to avoid them, as well as BioPlastic Guidance for Ocean Friendly Restaurants to share tips. Upstream has published findings showing Reuse Wins over single-use. Explore the Reuse Wins Report to learn how reusable food serviceware beats disposable by every environmental measure.

• BeachLife Festival promoted the BYOBottle campaign, encouraging fans to bring their own water bottles to refill at Rob Machado Foundation water stations to reduce plastic waste. They also gave a shout out to BYOBottle artists in their 2021 lineup Ben Harper, Larkin Poe, G. Love and Brett Dennen for rocking reusable water bottles. 

• Oceanic Global now offers a Blue Standard Certification for plastic-free and sustainable business operations as well as plastic-free verification for consumer goods and packaging. Businesses can apply to be a blue-list vendor. You can also explore Oceanic Global’s updated Music Industry resources.

➤ BYOBottle Sample Social Media Post: 

We rock reusables in support of #BYOBottle to help the music industry turn the tide on plastic pollution.  

Please Tag BYOBottle – FB: @byobottlecampaign / Insta: @BYOBottle / Twitter: @BYO_Bottle 

➤ BYOBottle Features: 

💧Featured Campaign: Flip the Script on Plastics

💧Featured Video: Humanity’s Impact – How Many Plastic Bottles Do We Produce?

💧Featured Toolkit: Surfrider Bioplastics Toolkit

💧Featured Resource: Oceanic Global’s Blue Standard Music Industry Edition

💧Featured Podcast: People over Plastic


BYOBottle Fall 2020 Highlights

Posted on by S K

Photos – BYOBottle Partners: Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper, Ohana Festival (Eddie Vedder, Fore the Waves), Jade Imagine
Dave Matthews, Phish, Jack Johnson and Lukas Nelson
PPC #RefillRevolution at Bonnaroo, SWMRS, Kasey Chambers, Brett Dennen at Lobero Theatre, Nathaniel Rateliff 

.

Greetings BYOBottle Partners! 

As we wind down 2020 and enter the holiday season, we want to take a moment and send thanks and support to all of our incredible BYOBottle Partners around the world! As the music industry continues to face and respond to unprecedented challenges, we are inspired by the BYOBottle artists, venues, and festivals getting creative to share music with their communities. We are proud to see our non-profit and business partners working hard to create helpful resources and to adapt and innovate. We are grateful to the BYOBottle fans, enjoying virtual concerts in their own homes, but remaining committed to reducing single-use plastic in their daily lives.

This newsletter includes partner highlights and featured resources, including valuable reopening guidelines on the safety of reusables at live events. Explore the Simplify the Holidays campaign to reduce waste, and learn how to support NITO’s efforts to Save Live Music. The BYOBottle campaign is proud to have the support of 234 Artists, 75 Venues & Festivals, and 80 Non-Profit & Business Partners worldwide!

➤ BYOBottle – Highlights:

  • Business Innovation: BYOBottle Business Partners, including US Pure Water, FloWater, WE-Refill and O’land Fill & Wash Stations are taking steps to address safety during COVID-19, developing touchless water refill station solutions with motion sensors or foot pedals. r.Cup is promoting a “new cup every time” reusable model and just launched r.Ware – a reusable food to-go ware system to tackle take-out waste generated by COVID-19.

➤ BYOBottle Features: 

💧Featured Resource: COVID-19 Plastic-Free Reopening Guidelines: Live Events

💧Featured Video: O’land Touchless Water & Handwash Stations

💧Featured Action: Support the Presidential Plastics Action Plan

💧Featured Campaign: Simplify the Holidays

Wishing you a Healthy & Happy Holiday Season from the team at BYOBottle!

BYOBottle Summer 2020 Highlights

Posted on by S K

BYOBottle Partners: Shook Twins, Plastic Free July, Steelys at Outside Lands, 

BYOBottle Artists Ben Harper & Jack Johnson with Deva Mahal at Byron Bay Bluesfest, Fruition, Keb’ Mo’

Greetings BYOBottle Partners! 

We, as a music industry, look forward to coming together again in person soon. While we wait for tours to get back on the road, it gives us a chance to consider our practices, so that the music scene can emerge more resilient, sustainable, and equitable than ever before. BYOBottle represents a diverse and dynamic community and we continue to promote respect for people and the planet. The music industry and BYOBottle partners have joined millions around the world to say #TheShowMustBePaused and to take an urgent step of action to promote systemic change and equality. We will continue to listen, learn, connect and take action in support of the black community and racial justice everywhere. 

In April, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the 1-year anniversary since the global launch of the BYOBottle campaign. We find ourselves in quite a different reality than one year ago – exploring a virtual music scene and connecting with each other digitally. We are grateful to Green Music Australia who created this campaign in Australia and to all of the incredible global music industry partners who have joined the momentum to turn the tide on plastic pollution. We are proud to have the support of 233 Artists, 75 Venues & Festivals and 79 Non-Profit & Business Partners worldwide!

➤ BYOBottle – Highlights & Actions:

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